India Rape Cases Colored by Caste

Lalasa Devi, a woman belonging to a caste once considered ‘untouchable,’ says she was raped in March by an upper-caste man from her village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Lalasa Devi says that before her attacker grabbed her by the throat, he snarled “Chamar,” the name of the so-called untouchable caste into which she was born. “What can you do to me?”

Then he threw her to the ground and raped her, she says.

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Ms. Devi, a mother of four in her mid-30s, says authorities treated her poorly when she registered a complaint against her alleged assailant, who belongs to a high caste in this small northern Indian village. Nine months after the alleged rape, the man she accused is free on bail, and it isn’t clear when a trial will begin.

“I’m dying of shame,” she said in a recent interview, covering her head with the corner of her sari. “All I had was my honor…you lose that, you have nothing.” She authorized The Wall Street Journal to use her name.

Women across India face daunting obstacles in pressing sexual-assault allegations. An unfriendly justice system and fear of social stigma make many reluctant even to report such crimes, women’s rights advocates say.

Rural, lower-caste women such as Ms. Devi also face pervasive and deeply rooted discrimination against those once called “untouchables”—now known as Dalits, or oppressed people. “It’s the mind-set of the dominant castes,” says Deepika, a Dalit-rights activist in New Delhi who uses only one name. “To them, raping a Dalit woman is not a sin.”

A court in the western state of Rajasthan in 1995 acquitted five men of rape, saying upper-caste men couldn’t have raped a Dalit. The state has asked a higher court to review that case—a request that is still pending.

Attitudes toward Dalits have improved since the 1990s, and a wrenching national dialogue now is under way about sexual assault. The fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi a year ago has prompted new laws against sexual violence and efforts to improve the justice system.

In cities, more victims are stepping forward to report crimes. But in the vast hinterland, where the majority of India’s women live, change is coming much more slowly.

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